Duration: 00:02:25

Subject: Nuclear weapons; Atomic weapons; Nuclear weapons - testing; United States. navy
Copyright Holder: Public Domain

Clip Description
This government promotional film describes the TOMAHAWK cruise missile, a subsonic, long-range missile designed for precise target hits. It could be launched by surface ships, submarines, bombers, and truck-like vehicles. As depicted in the film, the TOMAHAWK's testing phases were conducted with submarine-launched missiles. At 3,200 pounds, a length of 20 feet, and a diameter of 21 inches, ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs, pronounced "glick-ems") were touted as small, low-flying, evasive, and accurate. GLCMs had several military advantages: they were easily concealed, they were cheap in comparison with ballistic missiles, and they never had to leave the earth's atmosphere.

In 1977, the Soviet Union began deploying the SS-20, an intermediate-range missile fitted with three accurate, independently retargetable warheads aimed at Western Europe. In December 1979, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countered with plans to deploy 108 Pershing II missiles and 464 GLCMs in Belgium, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and West Germany. In some ways, the Soviet Union feared the GLCM more than it feared the powerful, fast-flying Pershing II even though the Pershing II was reputed to be fifteen times more accurate than the SS-20 and capable of destroying hardened military targets, including command-and-control bunkers and missile silos. The Pershing II'sflying time to Moscow was about ten minutes, which created the possibility of a super-sudden first strike. GLCMs, however, used the sophisticated TERCOM "terrain-contour matching" guidance system. Digital maps stored within the computer would adjust the course along the missile's preplanned path, allowing it to fly high enough to avoid obstacles but low enough to avoid detection by enemy radar. Moreover, it had the range to strike deep within Soviet territory. Designed to be road-mobile in alert situations, GLCMs easily moved to on- or off-road sites. However, the navy and air force worried that TERCOM would not perform as intended except under ideal conditions. Its slow speed could allow the missile to be detected or blown off course. Over long distances, navigational errors could build up in the on-board computer. To be accurate, the TERCOM's map would have to carry the latest terrain and physical-feature changes along the missile's course. In the end, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan signed in December 1987 eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe. All SS-20, Pershing II, and GLCM missiles were removed and dismantled and turned into expensive scrap.